Demoliton Man

Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com

For Charlie Davies, Saturday’s match in Columbus meant plenty, and for reasons that went beyond the fact that it was first leg of the Conference Semifinals.

The last time the Revolution visited Crew Stadium, Davies was denied of a golden chance to equalize by goalkeeper Steve Clark in the waning minutes of a one-nil match that the Revolution eventually lost on Sept. 20.

Using that memory as motivation, Davies tallied twice on Saturday as the Revolution demolished the Crew 4-2 to send the series back to Foxborough with the locals in firm command.

“I’m not going to lie,” Davies told the media after the match. “I never forgot the shot that [Clark] saved the last time that we played here. I got the space and knew that I could have taken a couple more steps, but I felt that the timing was right and if you give me two chances, I’m going to put one away.”

No doubt Davies got the best of Clark on his second strike of the match in the 78th minute. After collecting a pass from Scott Caldwell, the Boston College alum ran at Clark and uncorked a shot that smacked off the inside of the far post before it crash through.

But the opportunity to make his penance for his previous performance in Columbus wasn’t limited to his late-game goal. In fact, it was none other than Davies who helped open up a game that had the potential to sink into a negative and ugly affair.

After both sides came within inches of seizing the match early, Davies secured the opener in the 34th minute. On an impeccably-timed run, Davies eluded the attention of Tyson Wahl and met Kelyn Rowe’s free kick uncontested at the far post, where he buried it.

“Once I was able to get a great ball and was able to put it into the back of the net, we were able to calm it down and keep the ball and play our game,” Davies said. “It was a bit of a relief, because I think we all felt that we settled in to the game and we were able to keep the ball and play our game and it made it much easier for us.”

No doubt the goals came easy for the Revolution following their striker’s opener. Chris Tierney delivered on a free kick from 25 yards in the 51st minute, while Lee Nguyen bagged one of his own in the 78th minute. Saturday’s haul was the highest since the Revolution bagged five against the Union in Philadelphia on May 17.

While the squad’s goal showcase was more than enough to smile about, Davies, who hadn’t scored since Sept. 12, was especially pleased with the way the afternoon went for him.

“Yeah, it is definitely something to be very happy about, with my performance today,” Davies said. “But again, there is another leg to this series so we have to be focused for the home game.”